Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. had perfect response to taunting Yankees fans
Serenaded by chants of "Steroids" from the New York Yankees faithful for most of Friday night, Fernando Tatis Jr. got the last laugh, smashing a 432-foot two-run bomb in a 5-1 San Diego Padres victory.
Much to the delight of the Yankee Stadium crowd, Tatis went hit-less with a strikeout over his first three at-bats. Tatis quieted the jeers in the sixth inning, though, destroying a first-pitch changeup from Ron Marinaccio into the left field bleachers before capping off his homer with a bat flip.
Tatis continued to torture Yankees fans in the bottom half of the inning, gesturing to the stands as he walked out to man right field.
When asked by reporters after the game what his best comeback to the fans was, Tatis responded, "That home run."
"It's New York. You're going to hear everything, but you know, just giving a good time to the fans," Tatis said via 97.3 The Fan. "Got to just learn how to embrace it and how to just give them good feedback."
Friday makred Tatis' first trip to New York since serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, Clostebol, a performance enhancer.
The 24-year-old suffered a wrist injury requiring surgery following a motorcycle accident ahead of the 2022 campaign. In August of that year, MLB suspended Tatis for his PED violation only weeks before his scheduled return from rehab.
Tatis made his return to the Padres lineup on April 20. Through 31 games, the slugger is batting .256/.301/.474 with eight home runs and 17 RBI.
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